A helping hand
by AdoreThem
Summary: Jack and Ianto help a friend. Jack askes Ianto a question in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Jack was in his office doing paperwork when Ianto entered with a cup of coffee in his hand. The rest of the team had gone home for the night.

"Here you go Jack."

"Thanks Ianto, you always know when I need coffee the most."

"What can I say? It's a gift."

Before Jack had time to respond with one of his snappy comebacks, a bright light came into the room. Jack quickly grabbed his gun and pointed at the bright light, only to hear a voice talking to him.

"I hope you're not planning on shooting me Captain Harkness that would be a waste of beauty."

Jack stopped dead in his tracks. He knew that voice from somewhere, and he knew it wasn't a bad thing. The light surrounding the person started to fade rather slowly.

"Ianto. Could you go get one more cup of coffee?"

"Sure Jack. Should I call the others while I'm down there?"

"That won't be necessary."

Ianto left the room before the light had faded enough to see the person. The light was now gone and all that was left was a woman. A beautiful woman, with beautiful blonde hair, beautiful body and a beautiful face.

"Hello Jack. Did you miss me?"

"Well well well, look what the cat dragged in."

Jack had a big smile on his face. He walked over to the woman and gave her a hug, he then walked back to his desk.

"Take a seat."

"Thank you. So what did I miss?"

"First of all, where have you been?"

"Doing this and that you know. Oh that's right the doctor says hello."

"You saw the doctor?"

"Yeah, I saw him in……"

There was a sound of coffee cups hitting the floor. Ianto looked to be in shock. Finally he spoke, not sure if it was a dream or what it was.

"Aya?"

"Hello Ianto."

Now it was Jack's turn to be in shock.

"Wait! You two know each other?"

Ianto seemed to be ignoring Jack.

"I….I thought you were dead."

"A lot of people thought so, yet here I am."

"But I saw you die. How is that possible?"

"Okay you two! How the hell do you know each other?"

"We used to work together."

"At torchwood one?"

"Oh no. long before that. Well okay not that long before, just a year or two before."

Aya finished telling Jack how she and Ianto knew each other, and now it was Ianto's turn to ask the same question.

"So how do you two know each other?"

Jack grinned and answered the question in a very cryptic way.

"Let's just say we have a few things in common."

"Like what? I mean except that you've both slept with me."

Jack's mouth was wide open after Ianto stopped speaking.

"Jack? Are you okay?"

All Jack could do was nod.

"Wait. So you two are a couple? Wow that's great."

Jack had finally closed his mouth and was again able to speak.

"Yes. Ianto is my boyfriend."

Once again it was Ianto's turn to look shocked. Jack noticed Ianto looking at him.

"What?"

"That's the first time I've ever heard you refer to me as your boyfriend."

"Is there a problem with that?"

"Nope. Not what I'm concerned."

"Good."

Jack looked back at Aya, while Ianto started cleaning the floor with the broken coffee cups.

"So you were saying something about the doctor?"

"Oh yeah, I met him in London a couple of months ago. He was the one who told me where I could find you."

"Why did you need to see me?"

"I need your help with my teleporter."

"Why what's wrong with it?"

"Well in case you didn't notice, it takes about 5 minutes for me to appear after teleporting and I know that's not right."

"Did you try checking the main wire?"

Jack and Aya turned to see Ianto returned from cleaning up and with three new cups of coffee.

"What do you mean?"

"Well it might be one of the main wires that are a little burned. Remember the project you helped me with when I was in school?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. You know you might have a point there."

"What are the two of you talking about?"

"When I was in school, I had a project that Aya helped me with."

"Not that he needed my help, because he figured it all out by himself."

"But anyways. I found out that the reason my project only worked half the time was because the main wire was burned a little, so I replaced it and it still works this day today."

"Wait, you still have it? I thought you would have thrown it out by now."

"Nope, I still have it, it's at home with the rest of my school projects. I don't seem to have the heart to throw it away. It did give me top grads you know."

"Yeah I know, you told me after the exam. But I really thought you would had gotten rid of it by now."

"Nope still have it."

"Have I seen this?"

"No Jack, you haven't. But I'll show it to you next time we're at my flat."

"Oh okay. Well if we wait till tomorrow, we can have Tosh look at it and replace anything that needs replacing. How does that sound?"

"Fine by me. So what time should I stop by tomorrow?"

"You could just stay here tonight. We have an extra bed you could use. That way it's easier and you don't have to travel so much."

"Okay that sounds like a plan."

"I'll go set up the bed."

The rest of the night Jack, Ianto and Aya were catching up with each other. Aya asked Ianto what happened to Lisa, and Ianto told her, what happened and how stupid he had been, Jack had interrupted Ianto, and told him that he wasn't stupid, that he did what he did because he loved Lisa and wanted her back. Ianto had then given Jack a kiss and told him that it didn't matter anymore, that now Jack was his future. Aya could see the love in the two men's eyes and started talking about all the bad guys she had been dating over the years, and how she finally found a loving and caring guy, to whom she was now married and had a child with.

Ianto sometimes left the room to get everyone a refill of coffee, and Aya took that opportunity to ask Jack about his relationship with Ianto, how serious they were and if Jack had thought about proposing to Ianto. Jack admitted to have thought about it, but then he started thinking of all the times he had hurt Ianto, and how upset Ianto would be every time Jack ended up dying, and he didn't know if he could live with knowing that. He also thought of how selfish he was for wanting Ianto to stay with him forever. Jack had gotten up from his chair and taken a box out for Aya to see, inside there was a ring with the inscription "Our time is endless". Jack told her that he had bought the ring, because he knew that someday he wouldn't be able to hold his emotions hidden away anymore. Aya was starting to tear up, when Jack saw Ianto coming up the stairs and hurried up with hiding the ring again.

When Ianto entered the room again, he asked what they were talking about seeing as Aya had tears in her eyes. Aya had told him that she had just been laughing too much, so her eyes started tearing up, and that they were waiting for him, so she could show them pictures of her son Duncan and her husband Simon.

They all laughed at some of the picture of Aya, Simon and Duncan dressed up for Halloween when they went to America, to visit Simon's brother and his wife. She told them that Duncan was three years old at the time, and wanted to be a pilot when he grew up. She told them what she now did for a living, that she had her own company in London and that she was building an office in Wales and one in Dublin.

She also told them that that's how she met Simon. He had his own construction company and that he was the one who build the main office in London. They had talked every day, and one day he had asked her out, and she had said yes without hesitation. She told them all about their first date, and about how he had proposed to her (Which Jack had taken as a hint from her for him to just go ahead and propose to Ianto.) and told them about the wedding. Jack then started talking about Gwen's wedding and how they had to retcon every wedding guest there. Aya couldn't help but laugh and said that that was a wedding to remember, especially for the bride and groom. After that Aya was starting to bed sleepy, and no wonder, she looked at the clock and was stunt to see that it was 5am. She told Jack and Ianto that it might be time to go to bed. The two men agreed, seeing as it would only be a couple of hours before the team would start to arrive. Ianto had shown Aya to the room she'd be staying in for the night. Ianto then went back to say goodnight to Jack before heading home to get a few hours of sleep, but Jack had stopped Ianto and asked him to spend the night in the hub with him. Ianto told him that he had to get home and pick up some clothes , Jack had once again stopped him and reminded him of the suit he had at the hub after picking up the dry cleaning earlier that day. Ianto in the end couldn't say no to Jack and stayed the night.


	2. Chapter 2

At 7.30am they woke up by the sound of Jack's wrist band, to see that Tosh and Gwen had already arrived, and was sitting at their desks, but there was still no sign of Owen. Not that that surprised them, because they knew it would be at least a couple of hours before Owen would show up. Ianto had taken a shower and gotten dressed and was now making coffee when Tosh entered the kitchen.

"You look tired. Long night?"

"We had a visitor last night, so we went to bed around 5am or so."

Tosh was a little confused.

"It wasn't an alien right? Because you would have called us if the rift was active right?"

"Yes we would have called you, but there was no need to, because it wasn't an alien. It was my old colleague Aya."

"And Jack didn't mind her being in the hub?"

"No, but that's probably because, it turns out, he knows her too."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Oh there she is."

Ianto looked out of the kitchen and saw Aya, he could also see a very confused Gwen sitting at her desk.

"What is she doing here?"

Tosh was looking at Ianto and then at the stranger walking towards them.

"Oh, she need our help, well to tell you the truth she needs your help. Her teleport bracelet is acting a bit slow. Jack told her that he would get you to look at it and see if you could figure out what's wrong with it. Personally I think it might have something to do with the main wire, maybe it's a little burned."

Tosh was trying to get all the information to sink in, but without her morning coffee, that was a bit of a problem.

"Morning Ianto."

"Morning Aya. Did you sleep okay?"

"Yeah, I slept great. How about you? Or did you even get any sleep?"

Aya and Ianto started to laugh, while Tosh still stood looking confused.

"Yeah I did. We didn't do anything but sleep. Oh by the way, this is Toshiko sato also known as Tosh. She's the one who is gonna see what's wrong with that bracelet of yours. Tosh this is Aya."

"It's nice to meet you Tosh."

"It's nice to meet you too Aya."

Ianto gave Tosh and Aya their coffee and was walking over to Gwen's desk, when Jack came down the stairs.

"Gwen. Could you come in to the kitchen please."

"Sure Jack."

Ianto was right behind Gwen and soon they were in the kitchen, all with cup of coffee in their hands.

"Now you are probably wondering who this is."

Jack was standing behind Aya with his hands on her shoulders.

"Well, maybe just a little, it's not every day you come to work in the morning and al of a sudden there is a stranger walking around the hub."

"Well this is Aya, she's a very good friend of mine and apparently Ianto's too. She's here because she needs Tosh's help to fix her teleport bracelet, so Toshiko, that's your job for today. The rest of us can look forward to a normal day. So let's get to work."

Everyone went back to their stations while Aya followed Tosh after giving her her bracelet. Ianto was still in the kitchen cleaning up and Jack stood in the doorway looking at him.

"You know. It's not polite to stare at someone."

"Even someone as beautiful and sexy as you?"

"Yes, even someone as beautiful and sexy as me. Damn. Now I've started to sound like you. Thanks a lot Jack."

"You do know that that isn't necessarily a bad thing."

Jack was now standing behind Ianto, with his hands placed on Ianto's waist. Ianto leaned back a bit and put his head on Jack's shoulder.

"Well, I wouldn't be the same Ianto Jones, if I started sounding like you, now would I?"

"Yeah you are right, then again, just think of all the naughty ideas you could come up with, by thinking like me."

Ianto looked at Jack, but didn't say anything until he looked at his watch.

"First of all, who was it that came up with that stop watch thing? Secondly, you do remember that you have a conference call with the prime minister in about 2 seconds right?"

Jack looked at his watch and then back at Ianto.

"This conversation isn't over."

And on that note Jack was gone and Ianto went back to the task at hand, wondering how the conversation would end. He kind of already knew. It would end the way it always do, with Jack kissing Ianto and knowing that Ianto can't resist it when he starts kissing him.


	3. Chapter 3

A couple of hours later Owen finally showed up for work, and Jack call him to his office to tell him about Aya. Owen didn't say that much other then okay. After Owen left, Ianto entered Jack's office with another cup of coffee.

"Thanks Ianto. How are Tosh and Aya doing? Any progress yet?"

"Well, I'm proud to say. I was right!"

"Really? So it was the main wire that was a little burned huh."

"Well more like a lot burned. Tosh and I was surprised it still worked. Tosh is replacing the main wire as we speak."

"So you're free for the rest of the day huh."

"Well I still have some filing to do."

"You can always do that tomorrow."

Jack got out of his chair and walked over to Ianto and put his arms around Ianto's waist.

"And what do you want me to do instead?"

"Oh I can think of a few things."

"I bet you can, but I'm sorry to…"

Ianto didn't have the time to finish the sentence before Jack had him up against the wall, and was kissing him. Jack pulled back to catch his breath.

"I have something I need to ask you."

"Jack? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything is fine. I just need you to sit down."

"Why? Jack you're starting to scare me."

"Sorry I didn't mean too. I'm just a little nervous."

"Why? You have nothing to be nervous about."

"Just sit down please."

"Okay. But whatever it is you need to ask me, just get it over with."

"I don't think it's something I can just get over with."

"Why not?

"Because it's one of the most serious questions there is on this earth."

"Okay Jack. Now you are really freaking me out."

Jack didn't say anything, he just went over and picked up a box without Ianto seeing it.

"Ianto. I love you. You know that right?"

"Yeah I know. I love you too Jack."

"Good. Okay here it goes."

"Here goes what? Jack. Tell me."

"Ianto Jones. Will you marry me?"

Ianto looked at the ring and then at Jack. Ianto had tears streaming down his face. Ianto knew he was going to say yes, but I couldn't get the words out of his mouth. Jack was getting more and more nervous because of Ianto not speaking.

"Ianto?"

Ianto all of a sudden woke up from his state of mind and looked at Jack. A smile appearing on his face. He practically jumped out of his seat and gave Jack big tight hug and a passionate kiss. Jack pulled Ianto away after a couple of minutes.

"So was that a yes?"

"Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes."

Ianto gave Jack another kiss.

"Thank god. Now I was the one who was getting scared."

"Yeah, sorry about that. I wasn't expecting that. Tell me I'm not dreaming. You did just propose to me right?"

"Yes I did, and you said yes."

"Oh I know I said yes, just wanted to make sure I said yes to the right question."

Jack couldn't help but smile.

"Well I'm just happy you said yes. And before you put on the ring, look inside it."

Ianto took the ring and looked inside. When he read the inscription he was in tears.

"Are you okay?"

Ianto and Jack looked over at the door where Aya had just entered.

"Yeah I'm fine."

"Then why are you crying."

Aya saw the little blue box on the table.

"Jack! You did it! Thank god."

"What do you mean? You knew he was going to propose?"

"Why do you think I had tears in my eyes yesterday when you came back from getting more coffee?"

"So that's why. I knew it wasn't from laughing too much!"

"So when are you setting a wedding date?"

"Oh my god."

"Ianto! What is it?"

"We are officially engaged."

"Yes we are."

"I can't believe this is really happening."

"Me either. And I've wanted to do this for such a long time. So Aya, what can I help you with?"

"Well I just wanted to say thanks for the help."

"Well, why don't you stay for dinner? We have some celebration to do."

Okay, but then I really have to go home, before Simon starts missing me too much."

"Deal."

That evening they had a nice dinner at Ianto's flat. It was only a couple of hours before Aya teleported back home and Ianto and Jack were all alone in the flat. Ianto was getting tired and Jack told him to go to bed. Ianto had refused to go to bed without having a bath first and that Jack should come to bed with him. After the bath Ianto and Jack went to bed and fell asleep in each other's arms. Both dreaming of their wedding day.


End file.
